Earlier this year, the Bureau of Economic Research published a paper about the obesity epidemic(TM) and the growing threat it poses to the pursuit of happiness, national security, and not looking at gross ugly fat people in public. Just kidding, the story was about changes in the BMI. The multivariable study considered 27 state-level factors […]

There’s a restaurant I go to regularly with friends when I’m down south — I think of it like a second home. We sit at the bar and the sushi chefs banter with us and make intriguing, delightful, wonderful things. They know what we like, and they know how to present the food in the […]

The drum of ‘people should eat more fresh food’ is being beaten with increasing urgency these days, and there’s a slow, growing awareness that the obstacles to people eating fresh food might not be so simple as people being lazy and not wanting to eat vegetables. Talk of food deserts has begun to spring from […]

When I first started reading Haruki Murakami, one thing struck me enough that I ended up having a long conversation with my father at the dinner table (appropriately) about it: The constant inclusion of food in his novels. He always tells you what his characters are eating, frequently in detail; whether a character is preparing […]

I’ve been cooking pretty much my whole life, since I was old enough to stand up reasonably straight and mount a stool next to my father to help chop or mix ingredients. We cooked together until I left home, making most of our meals at home and from scratch—it was extremely rare for us to […]

Chipotle is a rapidly growing chain that’s trying to distinguish itself from the competition by showcasing itself as a model of ethical food production. It’s championing small farmers, seeking humanely-raised animal products, and providing vegan and vegetarian meals to customers. In this business climate, it’s a very smart move to be making, as greenwashing is […]

Local food is hitting the headlines. More and more regions are starting local food initiatives and thinking about food independence and ways to feed people within regional foodsheds, focusing their efforts on community-building and creating sustainable local agriculture that is also ideally affordable as well. Big ag in turn is lashing back, because of course […]

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately assisting my friend Gowan at the Noyo Food Forest, which produces fruits and vegetables in a production garden as well as several smaller demonstration plots around the coast. Their primary clients are the schools, who order fresh produce for use in their cafeterias, and they also sell […]

Among many vegetarians and vegans of my acquaintance, the idea that animal products are inherently inefficient is broadly accepted. In fact, some people I know have specifically chosen that diet because they have concerns about food chain inefficiency, and on the surface, the argument is compelling. It costs much more to raise the grain to […]